Ambassador Bridge Co. to trade land with Detroit for second span

The City of Detroit and the Ambassador Bridge Company have agreed to swap two plots of land, allowing the the bridge company to acquire land needed to build a second bridge.

In return, the City of Detroit gets a piece of land it will incorporate in a park project.

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If the agreement is approved by federal and state regulators, the Bridge company will give Detroit 4.8 acres and $5 million (all funds U.S.) for park improvements, while the city will give the bridge company three acres of land required to build a second span.

The bridge company will initially give the city $3 million for Phase 1 park improvement, and once it receives the land it needs for the second span it will provide the additional $2 million for Phase 2 projects starting 2018.

As part of the project, new baseball and soccer fields will be built, and construction on picnic and fishing areas will begin this fall.

The Michigan Central Train Depot will also get 1,050 new windows by the end of the year.

"This agreement gives the city the land and funding it needs to create a marquee park at Riverside and give Detroiters even greater access to our riverfront," Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said. "At the same time, it provides a dramatic improvement in the appearance of the Michigan Central Depot, making the future redevelopment of that landmark more likely."

The 4.8 acres will be developed by Detroit in 2018 when the lease expires for a warehouse on that site, which the Bridge Company will demolish.

The city will give the Bridge Company a three-acre strip of undeveloped city parkland that runs parallel and immediately west of the Ambassador Bridge.

"This agreement allows for Riverside Park to become the Marquee Park in Detroit while protecting the possibility for a second span of the Ambassador Bridge," said Matt Moroun, of the bridge company.